News / Palestine

Israel demolishes another Palestinian house in West Bank

Thursday, 17 August 2017 9:24 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 17 August 2017 9:28 AM ]

A Palestinian woman stands by the rubble of a demolished house in Kalansua, in the occupied Palestinian territories, January 11, 2017. (Photo by AP)

Israeli forces have blown up a house near the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, which belonged to a young Palestinian man accused by the regime of being behind an alleged deadly stabbing attack against an Israeli trooper.

The Israeli security forces demolished by explosion the house of 18-year-old Adel Ankush in Deir Abu Mashal Village late on Wednesday, AFP quoted an unnamed military spokesperson as saying on Thursday morning. They had drilled holes into the walls of the house and inserted explosives into them a few hours earlier.

According to the Palestinian Ma’an news agency, a fire was caused after the explosion and the Israeli forces had to call in firefighters to douse the flames.

Tel Aviv had alleged that Ankush fatally stabbed a female border guard at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem al-Quds on June 16 before being gunned down.

Ankush’s home had been sealed by security forces last week.

Meanwhile, rights groups have warned that residents of Deir Abu Mashaal and Silwad, another village, have recently faced an escalating wave of “collective punishment” and restrictive measures on a routine basis, including mid-night home raids, arbitrary arrests, and the installation of roadblocks.

Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli security forces had demolished another house, in the West Bank village of Kobar, alleging that 19-year-old Omar al-Abed, who used to live there, had fatally stabbed three settlers in the nearby settlement of Neve Tsuf on July 21.

Israeli forces regularly target Palestinian villages in the occupied territories, tearing down structures and triggering often deadly clashes with the locals.

The developments came as anti-Israeli sentiment had reached new heights both among Palestinians and anti-Israel activists around the world over the regime’s earlier three-day-long closure of the al-Aqsa Mosque’s compound in the occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds.

Israel took the move after a deadly shootout outside the compound on July 14, heightening fears among Palestinians that Tel Aviv is seeking to manipulate the premises’ status quo.

More than a dozen Palestinians were killed in the ensuing tensions.

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